Creating organizational structures to facilitate collegial interaction among teachers

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy G Ford ◽  
Peter A Youngs
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Success For All ◽  
Teacher Leader ◽  
Organizational Intervention ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Organizational Controls ◽  
Formal Controls ◽  
Leader Role ◽  
Collegial Interaction

Emerging from concerns about “contrived collegiality” in schools is also the recognition that breaking existing patterns of collegial interaction (or lack thereof) might necessitate some level of leader-initiated (or otherwise organizational) intervention. This paper presents the case of Middleville, a high-performing Midwestern US district, and changes in patterns of collegial interaction which occurred during their first seven years of implementation of the Success for All program—a program which employs a cohesive set of formal organizational controls. Utilizing qualitative data from interviews and focus groups with over 60 elementary school and district staff, we endeavored to better understand the ways in which the Success for All program and its various components have spurred collegial interaction and collegiality in Middleville. Findings reveal the utility of formal controls in pushing teachers to interact in ways which represent a break from past practice. Program facilitators, a unique teacher leader role within each school, played a key role in this process by mitigating the conflict and tension that invariably arises as a result of increased interaction. Findings also emphasize the importance of critically examining the purposes behind the cultivation of collaborative practice and the norms of collegiality to go along with it.

Distributed but Undefined: New Teacher Leader Roles to Change Schools

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 953-981 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Margolis ◽  
Kristin Shawn Huggins
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
New Teacher ◽  
Teacher Leader ◽  
Organizational Complexity ◽  
Leader Roles ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Leader Role

This article examines teacher leader role development and definition by looking at one emergent model of distributed leadership: the hybrid teacher leader (HTL). HTLs are teachers whose official schedule includes both teaching K–12 students and leading teachers in some capacity. Participants included six HTLs across four school districts over 2 years, as well as their administrators. Extensive qualitative data were collected and subsequently analyzed, including interviews, on-site observations, and artifacts. Findings included a pervasive lack of role definition for the HTLs amid heightened organizational complexity, leading to numerous de facto definitions emerging. Conflicting de facto definitions led to diminished success for the HTLs, relationship deterioration, a reversion to professional development removed from the classroom, and a lack of capacity to account for HTL efficacy. The study concludes that for new teacher leaders to be successful, states and districts will need to much more clearly define roles and priorities and be specific about how budget-compensated teacher leader time is used.

Organ donation

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Mone
Keyword(s):  
Organ Donation ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Waiting Lists ◽  
Healthcare Management ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Job Roles ◽  
Donation Process

Kidney transplantation has been and continues to be dependent on the apparently unscientific and decidedly personal act of organ donation. In the best-performing regions of the world, 75–95% of those who are medically suitable actually become donors upon their deaths, but because of increasing rates of organ failure, even in these high-performing areas, waiting lists continue to grow. Deceased organ donation performance is highly variable even among medically developed countries, and it is especially challenged in countries with cultural, legal, ethical or religious, economic, clinical, or organizational practices that limit donation. Recognizing these challenges, the transplantation community has collaborated to identify and promulgate international best practices and to foster innovation in the management of deceased donation. The goal of this effort is to clarify the organizational structures, social change interventions, and medical practices necessary to maximize both living and deceased donation. Although donation practice differs significantly across countries, successful organ donation programmes share certain traits and practices that can be modified to fit varied medical delivery reimbursement and social systems and structures. The world’s best-performing donation programmes have focused on increasing the public’s and healthcare professionals’ trust in the donation process, ensuring equitable access to transplantation, and they have built donation organizations that borrow from the theory and practice of business and healthcare management systems. The critical processes, essential functions, job roles, and foundational principles of successful donation programmes require the use of the tools that have been shown to improve donation and increase transplantation, thereby reducing (or, ideally, ending) deaths on the waiting lists. The wider adoption of these tools by countries with fledgling or struggling organ donation would increase organ availability and its exploitation of the poor who in many countries become organ ‘vendors’ rather than donors.

Silencing Women's Voices: Nuisance Property Laws and Battered Women

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (04) ◽  
pp. 908-936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gretchen Arnold ◽  
Megan Slusser
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Battered Women ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Women's Voices ◽  
Law Enforcement Officials ◽  
The Law ◽  
Enforcement Policies

There is little documentation about how nuisance property laws, which fine people for excessive 911 calls, affect victims of domestic violence. In St. Louis, we found that police and prosecutors believe that the law benefits victims of domestic violence by providing them with additional services. By contrast, advocates for domestic violence victims believe that the law undermines battered women's access to housing and discourages them from calling 911. Using qualitative data, we analyze how the organizational structures and dynamics within which each group works give rise to different stocks of working knowledge. We conclude that law enforcement officials are unaware of these harms because women's voices and experiences are marginalized during the enforcement process. This research reveals mechanisms through which law enforcement policies reinforce gender inequality, and illustrates some ways in which gender relations and power come into play in what, on their surface, appear to be gender‐neutral laws.

scholarly journals Implementation of an organizational intervention to improve low-wage food service workers’ safety, health and wellbeing: findings from the Workplace Organizational Health Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Glorian Sorensen ◽  
Susan E. Peters ◽  
Karina Nielsen ◽  
Elisabeth Stelson ◽  
Lorraine M. Wallace ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Team ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Food Service ◽  
Organizational Health ◽  
Worker Safety ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Senior Leadership ◽  
Work Intensity ◽  
Organizational Intervention ◽  
Site Managers

Abstract Background Many organizational interventions aim to improve working conditions to promote and protect worker safety, health, and well-being. The Workplace Organizational Health Study used process evaluation to examine factors influencing implementation of an organizational intervention. This paper examines the extent to which the intervention was implemented as planned, the dose of intervention implemented, and ways the organizational context hindered or facilitated the implementation of the intervention. Methods This proof-of-concept trial was conducted with a large, multinational company that provides food service through contractual arrangements with corporate clients. The 13-month intervention was launched in five intervention sites in October 2018. We report findings on intervention implementation based on process tracking and qualitative data. Qualitative data from 25 post-intervention interviews and 89 process tracking documents were coded and thematically analyzed. Results Over the 13-month intervention, research team representatives met with site managers monthly to provide consultation and technical assistance on safety and ergonomics, work intensity, and job enrichment. Approximately two-thirds of the planned in-person or phone contacts occurred. We tailored the intervention to each site as we learned more about context, work demands, and relationships. The research team additionally met regularly with senior leadership and district managers, who provided corporate resources and guidance. By assessing the context of the food service setting in which the intervention was situated, we explored factors hindering and facilitating the implementation of the intervention. The financial pressures, competing priorities and the fast-paced work environment placed constraints on site managers’ availability and limited the full implementation of the intervention. Conclusions Despite strong support from corporate senior leadership, we encountered barriers in the implementation of the planned intervention at the worksite and district levels. These included financial demands that drove work intensity; turnover of site and district managers disrupting continuity in the implementation of the intervention; and staffing constraints that further increased the work load and pace. Findings underscore the need for ongoing commitment and support from both the parent employer and the host client. Trial registration This study was retrospectively registered with the Clinical Trials. Gov Protocol and Results System on June 2, 2021 with assigned registration number NCT04913168.

Sexual Harassment Training Focused Solely on Protecting Organizations From Lawsuits Won't Change a Toxic Culture for Women to an Inclusive One

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-25
Author(s):  
Darrell Norman Burrell ◽  
Shanel Lu ◽  
Preston Vernard Leicester Lindsay ◽  
Sharon L. Burton ◽  
Roderick French ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Organizational Cultures ◽  
Organizational Intervention ◽  
Institutional Rules ◽  
Sexual Harassment Training ◽  
Toxic Culture ◽  
Organizational Features ◽  
Organizational Literature

The location where workplace sexual harassment occurs points to the importance of workplace structures and practices for the precipitation of sexual harassment. In fact, some of the current theoretical explanations of sexual harassment focus primarily on organizational features that may facilitate sexual harassment, such as hierarchies and organizational cultures. Organizational literature suggests that in recent decades there has been a trend toward increased use of organizational practices that might empower workers, make organizations more inclusive, and constructively change organizational cultures through interventions. Assumptions about men and women contained in hegemonic gender beliefs can become embedded in organizational structures, authority lines, job classifications, institutional rules, and employee interactions. This paper explores these notions through a case study of an organizational intervention and a content analysis of the literature.

Humane Organizing in a Post-COVID-19 World: Learning from Buurtzorg’s Trust-Based Decentralization

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 375-399
Author(s):  
Sharda Nandram
Keyword(s):  
Home Health Care ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Home Health ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Core Concept ◽  
The Core ◽  
Theoretical Sampling ◽  
Organizational Architecture

This paper examines the enablers and consequences of less hierarchical organizing in which humane values are in focus as a path toward spirituality in the workplace. It describes Buurtzorg Nederland, a revolutionary case in home health care due to its radically decentralized structure and integrative, autonomous system of organizing. Data were collected by studying the responses of directors and nurses to the COVID-19 pandemic. A formative grounded theory methodology based on theoretical sampling using two additional qualitative data sets is used. The paper demonstrates that the simplification of organizational structures through integrative self-management helps to put the organization’s purpose at the center. Even in times of COVID-19 pandemic, this decentralized organizational architecture is empowering. The core concept of integrating simplification is elaborated using the enablers of serving, attuning, and trusting, wherein the concept of trust emerges as foundational.

Outsourcing, information symmetry and governance

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 993-1014
Author(s):  
Anna Frieda Rosin ◽  
Stephan Stubner ◽  
Sushil S. Chaurasia ◽  
Surabhi Verma
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Control ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Informal Controls ◽  
Organizational Controls ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Apparel Manufacturers ◽  
Formal Controls ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Least Squares Approach

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of retailers’ organizational controls and controls of their boundary personnel on manufacturers’ outsourcing performance. It further assesses the moderating impact of information symmetry in this context. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 230 Indian apparel manufacturers engaged in outsourcing activities with two international retailers. Organizational control is scrutinized as formal and informal controls, and outsourcing performance is studied in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. The partial least squares approach is used to test the proposed research model. Findings First, the retailers’ and the boundary person’s formal controls have a direct, positive effect on outsourcing efficiency. Second, although no significant effect of the boundary person’s formal controls on outsourcing effectiveness is identified, a significant effect of retailers’ formal controls on effectiveness is seen. Third, the boundary person’s informal controls are associated with a decrease in efficiency, whereas they have a positive effect on effectiveness. Fourth, although the retailers’ informal controls enhance outsourcing effectiveness, they negatively affect efficiency. Fifth, information symmetry is statistically significant in enhancing outsourcing efficiency and effectiveness. Practical implications The results have important implications for retailers and retailers’ boundary persons who are keen to improve their relations with manufacturers. This paper offers practical insights into the ways that manufacturers, boundary personnel and retailers can exercise control mechanisms in order to achieve effective and efficient outsourcing outcomes. Originality/value The effect of organizational control and information symmetry on outsourcing performance in typical outsourcing practices in manufacturer‒retailer relationships is shown.

scholarly journals Principals’ Perceptions of Education Equity: A Mindset for Practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Louis S. Nadelson ◽  
Shelly Albritton ◽  
Valerie G. Couture ◽  
Charlotte Green ◽  
Stacey D. Loyless ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Success For All ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Education Equity ◽  
School Variables ◽  
Perceptions Of Education ◽  
Principals Perceptions

In an effort to define a principal education equity mindset, we initially identified six essential attributes of the construct and attempted empirically to confirm our definition by gathering a combination of quantitative and qualitative data from 128 principals. We found variations in the expression of the mindset attributes and commitment by principals to create conditions that support success for all students. In addition, we exposed two unanticipated attributes and variations on attribute commitment. The principals’ personal, professional, and school variables were associated with significant differences in the mindset attributes. We provide a discussion of our findings, implications for practice, and directions for future research.

Layering, social risks and manufactured uncertainties in social work in Poland1

2019 ◽  
pp. 185-200
Author(s):  
Paweł Poławski
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Activation Policy ◽  
Depth Interviews

This chapter shows the latent functions and perverse effects of activation policy, conditionality, and related governance reforms implemented on a local level in Poland from the perspective of social workers. The chapter focuses on the consequences of layering processes within welfare state institutions, and how these processes shape the structure of social assistance and affect social work. The analysis is based on qualitative data collected from in-depth interviews with social workers that cover their experiences with the implementation of activation measures that have been modified and adjusted to local realities. The research confirms that orientation toward poverty management is strengthened by the pillarization of organizational structures and financial mechanisms, and that the reforms generate dysfunctions and strengthens uncertainties for both beneficiaries and social workers.

Does Authoritarianism Breed Corruption? Reconsidering the Relationship Between Authoritarian Governance and Corrupt Exchanges in Bureaucracies

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (02) ◽  
pp. 345-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Zaloznaya
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
The Political ◽  
Bureaucratic Corruption ◽  
Organizational Controls ◽  
Informal Economies ◽  
Favorable Conditions ◽  
The Relationship

This article advocates for ethnographic and historical study of the political roots of corruption. Focusing on informal economies of Belarusian universities, it reexamines two theoretical propositions about corruption in autocracies. The first proposition is that authoritarianism breeds bureaucratic corruption; the second is that autocrats grant disloyal subjects corruption opportunities in exchange for political compliance. Using qualitative data, the author finds that autocracies can generate favorable as well as unfavorable preconditions for bureaucratic corruption. The author argues that lenient autocratic governance, characterized by organizational decoupling, creates favorable conditions for bureaucratic corruption. In contrast, consolidated autocracy, defined by rigid organizational controls, is unfavorable to such corruption. The author also concludes that in autocracies, disloyal populations may be cut off from rather than granted opportunities for bureaucratic corruption. These findings suggest that the relationship between autocratic governance and corruption is more complex than current studies are able to reveal due to their methodological limitations.

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